520 Caroline Street, Downtown Fredericksburg, VA

About Agora Downtown

Agora Downtown Coffee Shop, owned by sisters MJ Stone and Andi Stone Chitty, is a coffee shop, used bookstore, gift shop, and a tremendous labor of love. Located in one of the oldest buildings in Fredericksburg (built in 1787), and most recently a residence, Agora is described by customers as feeling like a friend’s house that also serves you coffee and delicious homemade treats.

As teenagers, MJ’s dream was to open a coffee shop and Andi knew she wanted a bakery. Being so young and close in age, we of course did not get along well enough to consider having them combined into one, but we used to joke about having them next door to each other! We grew closer in college and, at the suggestion of our mother to open a coffee shop/bakery downtown, jumped on the idea.

Photo by Beverly Toves

At the the time, MJ was finishing her M.S. in Business at Elmira College in Elmira, New York, and Andi was in her last year at Virginia Tech getting her degree in Food Science and Technology. We spent our last year in school having Skype meetings to write our business plan and visiting coffee shops in New York and Virginia to meet with their baristas and owners. Immediately after graduation in 2014, we dove in as a family to find a place, renovate it to rezone it into a commercial space and then into a restaurant, and staff it. As a stubborn “do-it-yourself-er” family of 7, we ended up spending almost eleven months working close to full-time on a tight budget to get the space ready.

Our first day open was May 2nd, 2015. We didn’t have any employees until 5 months in, so while Andi and MJ put in about 120 hours a week each, our two younger sisters and our little brother often helped out behind the bar, our father worked maintenance for us, and our mother took care of the outside landscaping and came in a couple times a week to make sandwiches in the coffee shop’s kitchen for us to sell. With everyone pitching in, it truly became a family-run restaurant.

Since then, we’ve grown a lot in both staff and offerings in the coffee shop. With all the hard work put into Agora, it has turned into something incredible that we and many others have fallen in love with. We have wonderful baristas and customers that quickly turn into some of our best friends, delicious high quality baked goods and espresso drinks, and the unique ability to help out the community by representing artists, contributing to community events, and hosting fundraisers for local causes. It has actually become a dream come true.

If you’re reading this because you’re interested in visiting Agora, we hope you stop by and enjoy our labor of love!

Meet Our Team

Andi

Co-Owner, Baker, Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Hot Americano, black

Fun Fact: Andi is currently working towards becoming a Registered Nurse, in addition to owning Agora

Been with Agora since: The Beginning

MJ

Co-Owner, Operations Manager, Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Mama Rose Latte

Fun Fact: MJ is a talented pyrographer

Been with Agora since: The Beginning

Kacie

Manager, Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: London Fog with Rosewater

Fun Fact: Kacie is a classically trained ballet dancer, but her favorite styles to perform are contemporary and tap

Kristy

Baker

Fun Fact: Kristy is a both a Master Gardener and a Master Food Volunteer

Been with Agora since: The Beginning

Maggie

Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Mocha

Fun Fact: Maggie's dream is to live somewhere in the mountains, off the grid, with her own personal library

Been with Agora since: July, 2018

Mary

Baker, Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Vanilla Matcha Mocha with soy milk

Fun Fact:

Been with Agora since: September, 2018

Selene

Baker, Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Strangely Delicious

Fun Fact: Selene is a master juggler

Been with Agora since: April 2017

Tyler

Barista

Favorite Agora drink right now: Iced Flirty Chai with oat milk

Fun Fact: Tyler was once chased by moose down a mountain in Colorado

Been with Agora since: March, 2019

Headshots by KWH Photographs (Kacie), a portrait and lifestyle photographer currently based in Fredericksburg, serving the DMV Metro area region to Richmond and beyond. Also a wonderful Agora barista and Manager!

My favorite! The best coffee shop in town! Hands down!

Amy Itsoilgood Jones8/22/2015

This place was great! It was such a great place to sit and study for a while. The study cubby was so cute! Great coffee and such nice staff. Since it was my first time in town they gave me some great suggestions of where to check out. Very impressed with this place

Hannah Devlin3/08/2016

The coffee is excellent and the service very friendly. The food is delicious. Definitely my favorite coffee place.

Larry Davies4/18/2017

Had a great mocha coffee and shared a strawberry lemonade muffin with my son yesterday. Great cozy inside and pleasant employees. Will be back soon!

Marita Wiberg6/11/2015

Not only was the hot chocolate excellent (and it comes in "children's temperature" which is for adults, too!), but the service was friendly and charming! One of the little girls with me dropped her hot chocolate on the way out the door, and not only did they help clean up but they made her another that said "No need to cry over spilt milk" on the cup!!! Adorable! Moms, bring your kids here - it's family friendly!!!

Kelley Gaske12/13/2016

I loved the ambience and the coffee and pastries were delicious!

Mariana Parreiras9/16/2017

Current Yelp Rating

Voted #1 Best Coffee & Tea Shop!

Events

The Latest:

5 months ago

"It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all, May have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

GRINCH macarons are here at Agora! Sure to cause even the grinchiest of hearts to grow 3 sizes today❤